Drainage apparatus.



G. A. BRICKER.

DRAINAGE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17. 1911. RENEWED APR. 14.1915.

Patented June 22, 1915.

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.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARLAND A. BRICKEBI, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

DRAINAGE APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1915:

App..cation filed June 17, 1911, Serial No. 634,095. Renewed April 14,1915. Serial No. 21,458.

/ To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GARLAND A. BRIcKnR, a citizen of the United States,residing in Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, haveinventedia new and useful Drainage Apparatus, of'whic h the following isa specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for illustrating certain agriculturalfacts and principles, particularly those involved in drainage problems.

With this end in view, tht invention con;

sists in a new apparatus eml odying certain improved features ofconstruction which adapt it especially for use in class work whereinstruction in these principles is being given, and in lecture workbefore gatherings of farmers or the like.

' In the accompanying specification, and the drawing forming a partthereof, I have described and illustrated a specific embodiment of myinvention in what I consider to be its preferred form, but it should beunderstood that this is only for the purpose of illustration anddifferent specific constructions may he adopted without departing from"the spirit of the invention.

The said drawing is a perspective view of the apparatus, as seen fromabove.

In the drawing, B indicates a water tight vessel of any suitablematerial, such as sheet metal, preferably of a non-corrosive character.At different elevations in the vessel B are two tubes, a, which areparallel, or nearly so, to the bottom of the vessel. The purpose ofthese tubes, as will appear later, is to permit the drainage of waterfrom the vessel under certain conditions. v This drainage will takeplace if the tubes are horizontal, but it may be preferable to inclinethem slightly to facilitate the operation.

The dead or blind ends of the tubes a are closed and rigidly secured tothe inner face of a wall of the vessel B. The tubes are sealed into, andpass through, the opposite wall of the vessel. having their open outerends turned downward, as shown. Openings, 0, are formed in the Walls ofthe tubes 0. to permit the entrance of drainage water into the tubes.These openings are preferably covered with strainer cloth, 0, or somesimilar material to prevent clogging of the openings with soil.

In the front wall of the vessel B is an opening in which is scaled apiece of transparent material to form a water gage, (Z,

graduated as shown to indicate of water in the vessel.

A curved guard, b, of perforated remorably held in place back of the Ifby suitable bent strips, 0, secured to t e in,- side of the vessel B.The guard may be removed, when desired, through the top of' the vessel.It is important that the guard be provided with apertures orperforations. 6. I have found by experiment that when the. water gageopens intothe containing vessel only at its lower end there is asubstantial difference between the height of the water in the gage andthe height of the water table 7c in the soil in the vessel. This is dueto capillarity of the soil and other causes which cause the watertherein to assume a different level from that indicated by a gageconnected only at the bottom of the mass of 7; soil. By providing accessfrom the soil to the gage throughout the height of the gage the water inthe gage stands at the same height as in the soil and affords a trueindication of the height of the water table in such soil.

As previously indicated, the tubes 0 are for the purpose of draining offany excess of water in the soil.

In use, enough soil is placed in the vessel as B to fill it to asufiicient height to cover the tubes (1. Water is then addedprogressively.

It will be found that the water gage will ordinarily show no indication,nor will any water flow from either of the tubes at, until at enoughwater has been added to saturate the soil. When this has occurred, freewater will begin to appear in the vessel and its height will beindicated by the gage d. The surface of this water corresponds to, andrepresents. the water table in nature and the rapidity of its formationand rise is dependent upon the nature of thesoil being experimentedupon. As water is added, the water table rises until it reaches thelower 1 tube (1., whereupon the free Water begins to drain out throughsaid tube, as it does through a. line of drainage tile laid in theground. Under normal conditions no water will New from the upper tube aslong as the 1M lower tube is open. If theopcn end of the lower tube beclosed while the addition of wutcr to the surface of the soil continues,the water table will rise to the upper tube and the free water will thenflow from it.

By the use of the apparatus of my invention conditions can be realizedin miniature, in the class room or lecture hall, which approximateclosely those found in practical farming, and it becomes possible tomake experiments and demonstrations relating to the principles ofdrainage and other agricultural facts in a most effective manner.

Having indicated the nature of my invention and described one way inwhich it may be put in practice, but without de' scribing all thespecific forms which it may take nor all of its contemplated uses, whatI claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a watertight vessel pierced by two tubes, each of said tubes having openings inits walls inside of said vessel, said openings being, covered with Istrainer cloth; a. Water gage sealed into the side of said vessel, and aremovable, perforated sheet protector or guard member on the inside ofsaid vessel, back of said visible gage for showing at all times theheight of water in the receptacle, and perforated tubes arrangedtransversely in said receptacle and opening on the exterior there 30 of,substantially as described.

GARLAND A. BRIOKER Witnesses:

E. M. M. BRICKER, H. E. ESWINE.

